The Valentine Void
by live2rite
Summary: Lilly's birthday is on February 14th, a fact Amber and Ashley pick up on, then Miley arrives in Malibu ... LILEY
1. Chapter 1

A.N. This story was one of three idea's I had for Liley's so I asked My Personal Rose which one I should write first and after her predicted response of "all of them" lol this one won out. So as it's that festive time of year again and this was her favourite idea, I'm gonna make this her Christmas present :) Thanks Cole I owe ya one :) Happy Christmas!

Now this story is pretty much AU as Lilly never found out Miley was Hannah but I don't think they're OOC.

Originally this was supposed to be a oneshot but the idea's kept coming and the length snowballed so My Personal Rose suggested I split it in two but it kept growing still so now it's in three parts lol.

Disclaimer – I own nothing except my iPhone and my car :P

This is from Rite Rose Publishing.

The Valentine Void

Chapter One – Of Birthday's, Valentine's, Secrets and Friends.

Lilly Truscott was six years old when her hatred of Valentine's Day started. She had just had one of the best mornings of her short life. She had been woken up by her Mom who had sung happy birthday (that part hadn't been so great, her singing skills had come from somewhere) and then she had gone downstairs where she found a stack of presents and her Mom had made pancakes (her favourite) for breakfast. Then she had opened her presents. Her Mom had finally relented and had bought her very skateboard, of course the rest of the presents were the knee and elbow pads and a helmet that her Mom had insisted that she wear whenever she was on it, but she didn't care, in fact, having fallen off Oliver's skateboard two months earlier she was actually really happy to have them. She smiled as she walked into school with her new board was sticking out of the top of her bag and she smiled as Oliver beckoned her over.

"Happy Birthday Lilly!" he grinned and shoved a handmade birthday card into her hand. She smiled and thanked him but before either friend could say anything else a voice from behind Lilly made her scowl.

"Ooh it's the tom girl's birthday Ashley," Amber sneered. Lilly was about to retort when the bell rang and they all quickly made their way to their seats, Lilly still upset over how horrible Amber was and she had no idea why she always had to pick on her. Mrs Conner stepped into the room and started excitedly telling the class what they were going to be doing that morning.

"Good morning class, well in case you don't know, today is Valentine's day. This is usually the day where you tell the people who you care about that you love them. It's the most romantic day of the year, so in celebration of that, this morning we are going to be making cards. Each person can make a card and then we will collect them up and deliver them to the person the card is for. You can put your name on it or you can sign it with a question mark" she smiled, looking around the class clearly thinking she had given them a great treat. Lilly hated this sort of thing. There wasn't even anyone she would want to send a card to in this class ... except maybe Oliver but only because he was her friend. She sighed, Oliver it was then. She quickly drew what looked like a skateboard on the front of a folded piece of paper before carefully writing 'To Oliver from Lilly' inside. Half an hour later, Mrs Conner collected the card and then called people up to the front of the class one by one. Only Lilly was never called. No one had written her a card. She shrugged to herself, 'ah well' she thought, 'I've had lots of card today'. She was happily doodling on a spare piece of paper and Mrs Conner handed the last card to Mat when Amber spoke up.

"Loser Truscott doesn't have a Valentine card and it's her _birthday_ too!" she called across the room. Lilly's face instantly turned bright red at this and she slouched down in her seat, barely noticing Mrs Conner admonishment of Amber's statement. Stupid Valentine's day. Why did she have to be born on this stupid day and why did Amber hate her so much.

Stupid Valentine's.

-LILEY-

Ten year old Lilly Truscott was barely paying attention to the teacher. They were in science class and talking about space and stars and planets but all Lilly wanted was for this day to be over. She had to be the only child alive that hated her birthday. Every year the teachers had made them make each other Valentine's day cards and every year she didn't get one. Not that she really cared about receiving a card from someone who didn't want to give it anyway but it was the fact that Amber had to make her feel like such a loser. Last year she had come up with the nickname Loveless Lilly for her as she had picked up on the lack of cards every year not to mention that she had never had a boyfriend. Not that the one boy who had held Amber's hand every lunch period for a week could actually be called a boyfriend but Amber obviously thought he could. She tuned back into what the teacher was saying in time for him to explain what space was.

"... is a vacuum or a void. This means that it's basically an empty space, no air, no dust, just nothingness." He explained.

"Like Lilly's love life." Ashley, Amber's best friend spoke up, causing the class to giggle but before the teacher could say anything Amber spoke up as Lilly was expecting her to.

"Ooh Loveless Lilly, the Valentine Void!" Amber called scathingly across the room. Lilly rolled her eyes and internally berated herself for turning the red she could feel on her cheeks.

She hated Valentine's day.

-LILEY-

Later that same day, Lilly was walking into the canteen as she noticed a young girl she had never seen before walking into the principal's office with Mr Fisher and a tall man with hair that fell to his jaw bone. The girl happened to look down the corridor as Lilly looked that way and she smiled at her, Lilly smiled back as she closed the door of the office behind her. Lilly stood still for a few seconds and stared at the closed door. Did she know that girl, she felt like she knew her. Lilly shook this off and finished walking into the canteen before joining the line to get her dinner. Ten minutes later she was eating her spaghetti as Oliver was whispering to the rest of their friends, but she wasn't paying attention. Sometimes having a bunch of boys as friends had its downsides but there was something that he said that caught her attention.

"... Yeah that's right. The new girl. I swear!" he laughed. Lilly quickly swallowed her mouthful of pasta and shot back a response.

"Who? The new girl? You know her?" she asked.

"No, I just now that about her," he grinned.

"Know what?" she asked, frowning slightly. She knew all Oliver's friends and all his family, how could he know something about someone she had never even seen.

"She's called Milly, I saw her earlier, she's from Tennessee and she said she eats possum! I swear Lils!" Oliver told her, nodding his head enthusiastically. Lilly snorted in amusement, how the heck did he come up with these things? Their conversation was cut short as someone cleared their voice next to Lilly. She spun around in her seat and came face to face with the girl she had seen entering Mr Fisher's office a while ago.

"Hi" she smiled, "Can I sit with you?" she asked, her accent obvious in the few words she had spoken.

"Yeah 'course," she smiled back and moved her bag from the seat next to her to allow the girl to sit down, "I'm Lilly," she smiled and stuck her hand out as the girl sat down.

"Miley." Miley smiled back as she shook the hand Lilly offered.

"So where you from?" Lilly asked as she started eating her spaghetti again, this time at a slower pace so she could keep talking to Miley. She noticed the boys whispering to each other behind their hands. Suddenly Matt jumped up and ran over to the next table and started animatedly talking to them.

"Crowley Corners in Tennessee." Miley said, nervously as she watched Matt go.

"Whereabouts is that in Tennessee?" Lilly asked, interested.

"It's less than an hour outside of Nashville." Miley told her and just as Lilly was about to ask more, Amber and Ashley suddenly appeared on either side of Miley.

"Look Ashley, it's a hillbilly fresh off the plantation." Amber sneered with a fake accent. Ashley giggled at this.

"Ya think she's lost?" Ashley asked.

"She's not having lunch; you think she's picky about what she eats?" Amber asked mockingly.

"I don't know Amber what do you think?"

"I think there's no possum so ..." Amber started.

"She's not hungry!" they finished together before looking at each other, "Ooh tsss," they said as they touched their fingers together. Miley blushed and seemed to sink further down into her seat, she looked so unhappy at the teasing in the first few minutes of talking to people at her new school that Lilly felt inexplicably angry at them and protective over Miley.

"You guys really need to shut up and go away, it's her first day!" Lilly told them angrily as she stood up to face them.

"Ooh the Hillbilly and Valentine Void are possum buddies." Amber smirked and they both laughed as they walked away. Lilly fumed to herself as she sat down and turned to Miley.

"Sorry about them, they love making other people miserable," Lilly told Miley, "Here do you want my apple?" Lilly offered. Miley smiled and took the apple.

"Thanks." Miley smiled back.

Valentine's day sucked for everyone. Not just her.

-LILEY-

Fifteen year old Lilly was happy for the first time she could remember for Valentine's day. She had a date with Lucas tonight and he was so cute. Maybe this year she won't be the Valentine Void for once. She grinned as she walked into school and saw her best friend at her locker, brushing her hair whilst looking in the small mirror she had tacked to the inside of her locker door.

"Hey Miles." she greeted as she opened the locker next to Miley's and started sorting her books out for the day. Miley turned to look at Lilly as she said this and her face broke out into a warm smile.

"Hey birthday girl!" Miley greeted and pulled her friend into a quick hug before passing her a card, "You'll get the gift tomorrow on movie night" Miley told her. Thursday night had somehow become their movie night as Miley usually had family things on Friday and Saturday nights.

"Thanks Miley." Lilly grinned as she opened her card and read the inside. Miley always signed her cards to Lilly the same, 'love always, Miley xoxo". Lilly gave Miley another quick hug just as the bell rang. The day was filled with all the usual Valentine's day things, there were more couple's hanging out in the corridors, the usual Valentine's day card drop and, of course, the usual Valentine Void comments from Amber and Ashley. Only this year she had a date that evening. As the last bell rang, she and Miley jumped out of their seats and started to make their way to their lockers as Miley started questioning her friend about the upcoming date.

"So Lil, did you decide what you were gonna wear?" she asked as they stopped at their lockers to grab all their books.

"Yeah I'm gonna go with the blue outfit, you know the one with the Capri's?" Lilly told her, smiling.

"Yeah that's a great outfit! What are you gonna do with your hair? Ponytail or ...?" Miley started but she trailed off as they turned a corner and stopped short at the sight that greeted them. Miley's jaw dropped in shock and Lilly dropped the bag that she had been trying to close.

"Lucas?" she gasped. The guy and girl in front of them quickly separated from the intense kiss they had been sharing for Lucas to turn to look at Lilly and Miley. The girl, who Miley briefly recognised from her world history class, quickly walked down the corridor and disappeared out of the door.

"Lilly ..." Lucas started and stepped forward to try and take her hand but Lilly stepped back shaking her head and closing her eyes against the pain of what she had just witnessed.

"You ... you ... you jerk!" Lilly spat out before she swung back her fist and let her fist connect solidly with his jaw causing him to stumbled backwards, his foot catching in the strap of Lilly's fallen back and then him falling onto his backside. After she saw this, she smirked and turned on her heel to walk quickly to the other exit. Miley quickly grabbed her bag from the floor before glaring at Lucas.

"Don't you dare come near her again or I swear I'll do more than call you a jerk and make you look like the fool you are." Miley ground out between clenched teeth and ran after her friend. It didn't take long to catch up with Lilly with Miley running as fast as she could and when she reached her she took Lilly's hand in her free hand and doubled over, gasping for breath. "... Li ... Lilly ... you ... ok?" she panted as she righted herself to stand up and look Lilly in the eye. Miley's heart nearly broke to see the tears brimming in her eyes and stumbled back a step as Lilly threw herself in Miley's arms. Miley dropped Lilly's bag again and quickly brought up both arms to hug her friend closely. "It's ok Lil, he didn't deserve you anyway." Miley soothed.

"I'm always gonna be Loveless Lilly, the Valentine Void, aren't I?" Lilly croaked out between her sobs. Miley pushed Lilly away slightly so she could look her friend in the eyes.

"No!" she stated adamantly, "Absolutely not! I don't want to hear you ever say that again, ok?" Miley waited for a few moments and when Lilly didn't respond but looked away, she continued, "Lillian you listen to me, I _know_ you're gonna find the right person for you one day and Amber and Ashley will eat their words, I promise you." Miley said sincerely.

"But how can you possibly promise that?" Lilly asked, sadly.

"Because best friends know all," Miley smiled before pulling Lilly back into the hug, "You're staying at mine tonight, I'm sure your Mom won't mind, in fact we'll invite her over for dinner as well, I'm sure Daddy would love to make you a birthday dinner!" she exclaimed excitedly. Lilly couldn't help the soft laugh that escaped her.

"Ok," she agreed.

"And besides, you haven't had your pressie yet," Miley said as if that settled things. Miley reached down again to pick up Lilly's bag and threw it over her shoulder with her own before wrapping her arm around Lilly's shoulders and starting for her house with her best friend in tow.

Lilly quickly wiped her eyes as she thought about what had happened and gave a soft sigh. She shouldn't have been surprised, she thought to herself, after all Valentine's day sucked.

-LILEY-

Today was the last day of school before the holiday vacation started for Seaview High and sixteen year old Lilly couldn't wait for the day to be over. Her mom wanted her to spend the whole Christmas with her dad because she had to go up to her Mom's and there wasn't room for all of them, Heather would have to sleep on the sofa as it was. She sighed and made her way into the dining room to meet up with Miley and Oliver for lunch. When she arrived she grabbed her food from the lunch ladies and walked quickly over to her friends before slamming down the tray and plonking herself down in a definitely unladylike manner.

"Whoa Lil," Oliver said, his eyebrows disappearing under his two long fringe. "Who died?" Lilly didn't particularly find this funny so she settled for glaring at him. He seemed to realise he had said the wrong thing and quickly looked down at the mashed potatoes he had on his plate. Miley shook her head at her friend's behaviour before turning to face Lilly and gently resting her hand on her arm.

"What's up Lil?" she smiled kindly.

"Stupid Mother wants me to spend Christmas with Dad but I hate it there and we have nothing to talk about" she complained.

"Is there nowhere else you can stay?" Miley asked.

"No." Lilly answered forlornly. There was silence until Miley spoke again, this time with a very excited smile.

"How about my place?" she asked, "I'm sure daddy won't mind!" she enthused. Lilly looked at Miley happily.

"You sure?" she asked cautiously, not wanting to get her hopes up.

"'Course! Daddy loves you almost as much as I do." Miley grinned. Lilly couldn't help the slight blush that flooded her cheeks but she grinned back at her friend. Lilly had tried very hard to push down her feelings for her best friend but it was a losing battle. Every time she saw Miley smile she's just ... melted. She knew Miley was completely guy obsessed though and she knew that there were major differences between them. She was sporty and loved surfing and skateboarding whereas Miley loved to sing and write songs but Lilly had rarely heard her sing, she was really self conscious about her voice despite how absolutely wonderful it was. She cherished the times that she had, mostly times where she had come over to her friends and Miley had been singing softly to music she had written for her guitar. The difference between them was that she loved Hannah Montana but Miley didn't. She always said that her music was ok but she just didn't like her so every time Lilly had gone to see her favourite singer it had always been with Oliver. She had often pleaded with Miley to go to her concert with her but Miley had always refused.

Lilly shook off her musings and smiled at her friend, "Awesome!"

-LILEY-

Later that day, Lilly and Miley walked into Miley's house laughing and joking as normal to find a cooking Robbie Ray in the kitchen.

"Hey Daddy" Miley smiled.

"Hey Mr S!" Lilly greeted.

"Good afternoon girls, how was school?" Robbie Ray asked as he stirred whatever he was making for their dinner.

"It was ok Daddy," Miley supplied as they both stood at the breakfast bar, "Daddy can I ask you something?"

"Of course bud, what's up?" He asked, turning his attention to them.

"Can Lilly stay for Christmas?" Miley asked before rushing on to explain, "Mrs Truscott is spending the Christmas holidays with her Mom and there isn't anywhere other than her Dads". Robbie Ray looked between the two girls, torn between wanting to make happy and knowing the Mr Truscott loved to see his daughter.

"If Lilly's Mom and Dad don't mind her staying here instead of with her Dad then I don't mind having the extra company." he smiled at them, essentially leaving the decision to Lilly's parents.

"Yes!" Lilly yelled as she pumped her fist in the air before pulling Miley into a quick hug. "I'm gonna go ask my Mom, be back in about 30 minutes Miles."

"Ok," Miley yelled after Lilly as she was already half way out of the door. After the door had closed, Miley turned to her Dad. "Thanks Daddy" she smiled at him.

"It's ok bud," he smiled but then looked seriously at his daughter, "What are you going to do and the concert on the 27th?" he asked gently. He knew his daughter wanted to tell Lilly the truth but Lilly was such a huge fan of Hannah Montana that Miley felt she couldn't possibly measure up, in Lilly's eyes, to the person Lilly had put so high on that pedestal. There had been a few times where Miley had been in tears because of the guilt she felt over continually lying to her best friend about her double life but no matter how many times he told her that she could trust Lilly, she always said the same thing, 'I trust her with my life, it's myself I can't trust' but she never elaborated on what she meant by this and he never pushed the issue.

"Well I was kinda hoping we could tell her I have to go to a my Aunt Dolly's for dinner, she's in town because she's coming to the concert." Miley smiled.

"Ok bud, but just remember, this'll catch up t'ya eventually," he smiled and pulled her into a half hug.

"Yeah Daddy, I know," Miley sighed, "Sometimes I wish she had just ... I don't know, broken into my dressing room years ago or something like that and knew all this so I didn't have to pretend but the longer it's gone on the harder it is to tell her."

"I understand Miles," he kissed her on the head and cleared his throat, "Right enough about that; I need you to set the table please."

Miley and Robbie Ray stood talking about this and that for the next twenty minutes until the front door banged open and Lilly came running in.

"They said yes! They said yes! Dad was supposed to be going to his brothers in New York anyway but because Mom had to go to Florida he changed his plans." Lilly happily told them. Miley rushed forward and took both of Lilly's hands and they started jumping around the room.

"YAY! YAY! YAY!" they yelled in unison as Jackson walked down the stairs, no doubt having been drawn downstairs by the delicious smell of Robbie Ray's cooking.

"What's with the happy dancing?" Jackson asked as he grabbed a hot roll from the plate and tore into it.

"Lilly's gonna be joining us for Christmas Jackson so I hope you've been practicing your southern hospitality." Robbie Ray smiled at his son before turning back to watch the two excited girls jumping around.

"Oh please," Jackson snorted, "It's Lilly, she practically lives here anyway."

-LILEY-

The next day Lilly's Mom was finishing packing up the things she would need and picked her passport up off the side.

Lilly!" she yelled up the stairs, "Are you ready?" Lilly rushed out of her room carrying the small suitcase that she had put a week's worth of clothes in and ran down the stairs.

"I'm here, I'm here," Lilly smiled, "Are you all set for Grandma's?" she asked.

"Yeah ... wish I was staying here with you though," Heather told her, "Christmas at the Stewart's will be a blast! I'm so jealous" Lilly's Mom had a stormy relationship with her grandma but always tried her best to be there for her despite her living in Florida. "Do you have your keys as well just in case?" Lilly patted her pocket and smiled, "Good let's go then, I'll drop you at Miley's on the way".

Ten minutes later, Lilly was walking through the Stewarts door. "Ho Ho Ho Stewarts, Merry Christmas!" she yelled cheerfully. Miley looked up from what she was doing in the kitchen to smile at her best friend.

"Lils!" she smiled, "Your Mom get away ok?" she asked as she walked around the central kitchen unit and to Lilly to pull her into a hug and then grabbed one of the bags she had.

"Yeah," Lilly grinned and started to follow Miley up the stairs. "She was sulking because she wanted to be here for Christmas with us. She said, and I quote 'Christmas at the Stewart's will be a blast! I'm so jealous'." Lilly laughed and Miley soon followed.

-LILEY-

The next few days flashed by and before either girl knew it, Christmas Eve had arrived. It was just after six and Miley and Lilly walked into the house, giggling, after the day they had spent at the beach before watching the sun set together.

"I love Malibu sun sets," Miley grinned as they walked to the fridge. "I loved sun sets back in Tennessee too but watching the sun disappear behind the ocean is a whole 'nother deal." Miley opened the door and grabbed two bottles of water before handing one to Lilly and taking a swig of hers. Miley watched Lilly as she opened her bottle of water and quickly drank just about half of the bottle before stopping to catch her breath, and in that moment Miley realised something. Lilly was always Lilly, no matter what the situation she could pretty much always guess how she was going to react. Just like with the water, she knew that Lilly never sipped water (unless she was ill) she always drank it like they were running out and when they went shopping she always let Miley do what she wanted first before they went to any of the shops she wanted to go to. When they were having a sleepover she always slept on the same side of the bed and she would never betray a friend. Miley knew what she had to do; she had to tell Lilly the truth. She was still watching Lilly as she looked towards Miley to catch her watching.

"What?" she asked a little self consciously at the attention.

"Nothing," Miley shook her head, "It's just ... well I've been wanting to tell you something for a long time but I just ..." Miley started but was interrupted by Robbie Ray jogging into the kitchen from the side door.

"Good evening ladies, are we ready for the traditional Christmas Eve games night!" he asked enthusiastically. Miley's face fell at the interruption but she quickly plastered a smile on her face and turned to face her Dad.

"Sure Daddy, me and Lilly just got in, we were about to go and get ready," she smiled, the smile a little strained. Miley wanted to scream, she had finally decided to go through with telling Lilly then got interrupted! Maybe she should leave it until tomorrow anyway ... if it was Christmas and the confession was masked as a present maybe she wouldn't be as mad at her for keeping the secret.

"Ok Darlin' be sure to be ready for seven, it's your brother's turn to pick the first game this year," he reminded as he grabbed his own bottle of water from the fridge and walked upstairs. There was a moment of silence as Lilly and Miley stared at each other, finally Lilly cleared her.

"Erm ... Miles? ... You were saying?" she asked. Miley shook her head and smiled broadly.

"Never mind," Miley brushed off, "We have to get ready for tonight anyways, it's nothing important" Lilly looked like she was about to object at this but seemed to shake off the abrupt change in subject, "Come on, we need to have showers and change ... I'm getting the first shower!" she laughed and ran up the stairs with Lilly chasing after her.

"Hey! No fair, I'm supposed to be a guest!" she yelled, laughing. Miley won the first shower after an intense best out of three game of rock, paper, scissors so whilst she was in the shower, Lilly decided to figure out what she was going to wear. She had thrown her bag in the bottom of Miley's closet that morning as they had rushed out to spend the day on the beach so Lilly dropped down to her knees to reach for it however Miley's closet was a little deeper than most so she had to crawl forward a bit, under the vast amount of clothes that Miley had. She grabbed her bag and pulled it away from the back wall only to glance at the spot it had occupied. There was what looked like a slightly open door instead of a wall?

Lilly was confused so she stood up and pushed the clothes aside so she then realised she was looking at another set of double doors but what confused her even more was the Hannah Montanan HM on the doors. She pushed the doors fully open and as she did, lights burst into life and her jaw dropped. She walked into the new closet she had found and looked around. Everywhere she looked there were designer shoes and clothes and then she turned around to look at the wall with the door in it and gasped. There were framed Hannah Montana gold and platinum albums and certificates up on the wall and a shelving unit full of the various awards Hannah had won. Why would Miley have a room like this behind her closet? Then she looked at the framed concert picture and the truth finally hit her as she looked into the eyes she knew so well. Miley was Hannah Montana. Why had she never told her the truth? Did she not trust her? Was she not important enough?

Lilly stumbled backwards and fell onto the dressing table's chair. Miley didn't tell her? Her eyes filled with tears and she closed her eyes against the pain as she felt the tears stream down her face. She trusted Miley with everything, every little detail about her life so why the hell did she not trust her back. She roughly wiped the tears from her face and got to her feet just as Miley's voice floated in from the bedroom.

"Lilly, shower's free ... Lil! ... Lils?" Miley shouted her voice getting closer. Lilly didn't speak, she just faced the door waiting for Miley to appear.

TBC

A.N. I know I'm evil :P however the other two parts of this story have been written and I can assure you that all three parts will be posted by Christmas Eve. Please review! Thanks guys Nicki xoxo


	2. Chapter 2

A.N. Here's Chapter two! See I told ya it wouldn't be long :P this is a day earlier than I had intended, mainly because I'm going to see Paramore tomorrow and will be out most of the day before then too :) enjoy!

The Valentine Void

Chapter Two – Of Pain, Love and Secret Identities

Lilly didn't speak, she just faced the door waiting for Miley to appear which she did, if a little apprehensively. "Lilly?" she questioned, stepping into the closet and taking a look at her best friends face, worriedly noting the angry look and the tears stains. "I can explain ..." Miley started, but Lilly stopped her abruptly.

"Explain what exactly, HANNAH!" she sneered, "The fact that you've been lying to me all these years or the fact that I caught you out?" she asked.

"I ..." Miley tried to start again but Lilly wouldn't let her.

"I mean, you say you don't like Hannah but you obviously do. You say you have 'family things' on Fridays and Saturdays but I bet that's a lie too. All those things you've bought isn't because your Dad is a good song writer, it's because YOU can afford it! All those times you sat there and listened to me gush about how much I loved Hannah Montana and I bet you just thought I was such an idiot!" Lilly ranted.

"No! No never I just ..." Miley tried again.

"I'm obviously not your best friend if you can sit there and listen to me cry my eyes out about my father and you can't even tell me this!" Lilly carried on as she started pacing, but now Miley had had enough and was angry herself, mostly at the situation but also at how Lilly had found out, she was angry at herself for letting it happen this way.

"What I don't understand is why you were going through my things in first place!" Miley yelled back, "I trusted you to give me my privacy and you betrayed that! Why didn't I tell you? Maybe I thought you'd be so obsessed with me being Hannah that you'd forget me!" Miley screamed at Lilly as she walked forward and pushed her shoulder. "And other than the Hannah stuff I tell you everything too! You're the only one who knows about the nightmares I had about Daddy and Jackson dying after Momma died! I didn't even tell Daddy and you know it!" She yelled.

"You have a double life Miley, there's a whole other side of you that I just don't know anything about all because you've CHOSEN not to include me in it!" Lilly shot back.

"Oh see now here we go!" Miley laughed humourlessly, "The 'I'm mad I didn't get to do the famous stuff' bit," she sneered. "What's the matter Lilly? Upset you haven't had your five minutes of fame as Hannah Montana's best friend?"

"No!" Lilly defended, "That's NOT what I'm upset about ... you LIED TO ME MILEY!" Lilly roared, "You didn't trust me!"

"I TRUSTED YOU WITH MILEY!" Miley screamed back, "Hannah doesn't matter; I didn't want ME to be lost in the persona I created so I could have a normal life! Why can't you understand that?"

"Hannah is a part of you, Miley," Lilly said, trying to calm herself but losing the battle, "I want to know all sides of my best friend and I thought I did, but you can't even accept that! You didn't even give me the chance to show you that I don't care how famous or not famous you are! If you're my friend, you are my friend! Not just some name I use to get into A list parties and what I'm most upset about is that you SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT! You had such little faith in me that you thought I'd ... what? Wait for you to introduce me to Orlando Bloom, get loads of free cool stuff from you, betray your secret to everyone and bolt? Gee thanks!" she finished sarcastically.

"Well ding ding ding! Give the woman a prize!" Miley shot back, just as sarcastically. "I couldn't care less about the gifts or the parties or meeting famous people. I didn't want my secret to be betrayed by someone I trusted and loved so much! I thought if I ever told you, I'd never be just Miley again and I LOVE being just Miley."

Lilly paused and took her first proper look at Miley since she had discovered her in the Hannah Closet and noticed that Miley really did look afraid. Was she really that convinced that Lilly would treat her different? All the anger she had felt for the last few minutes ebbed away to leave her feeling slightly disappointed but mainly with the desperate need to comfort her best friend. She stepped forward carefully and brought her hand up to softly cup Miley's cheek.

"Hey," she said gently, causing Miley's eyes to dart up to meet hers, "I happen to love just Miley; she is my best friend you know." Miley choked a sob in the back of her throat before throwing her arms around Lilly and pulling her into a tight hug.

"I'm so sorry Lils, I wanted to tell you so many times, I really did, but I was just so scared." Miley whispered to her, her breath tickling Lilly's ear causing her to close her eyes against the feeling.

"It's ok," Lilly whispered back, "And I'm sorry for finding out the way I did ... although it really was an accident, I promise I wasn't deliberately snooping and I'm sorry for yelling, it just really caught me off guard."

"Promise you're not going to leave me now you know." Miley whispered. Lilly released her hold on Miley and pushed her to be at arm's length before she replied.

"Never Miles, you're stuck with me," Lilly grinned and brought her hand up to sweep the hair behind Miley's ear. As her eyes stared into Miley's, Lilly felt her breath catch in her throat. Right here is why she could never leave she admitted to herself. She was crazy for this girl in every way. She swallowed as her hand lingered and she could have sworn that Miley's gaze dropped to her lips before she found the strength to close her eyes and she brought her forehead to touch Miley's so they leant against each other. "Mi ..." she cleared her throat, "Miley, I have to tell you something too." she croaked, but the words never left her as Miley's soft lips touched hers.

Lilly gasped slightly and hesitated for all of a second before she pulled Miley tight against her and returned the kiss with passion. The kiss lasted quite a few minutes, the heat of the argument just seconds prior were being translated into the kiss but when they finally broke apart, Lilly tried to speak again. "I love you Miley" she confessed and opened her eyes to see the beautiful sight of Miley smiling back at her.

"Are you sure you don't just love Hannah?" Miley smirked, the gentle tone and the soft touch of Miley's hand on her forearm softening the words, allowing them to be taken in the manner they were intended. Lilly smiled as she responded.

"Well Hannah does have better shoes." she grinned and placed a soft kiss to the tip of Miley's nose causing a gentle laugh to erupt from Miley.

"I love you too." Miley smiled and pulled Lilly into another hug. Lilly closed her eyes in happiness as she circled her arms around Miley's waist but their moment was ruined by a loud knocking on the bedroom door. They released each other and Miley grabbed Lilly's hand and they walked into the bedroom where Miley let go off her hand so she could answer the door. There stood Robbie Ray looking a little anxious.

"Are you girls ok?" he asked, looking from Miley to Lilly and back again, "I heard yellin'" Miley smiled at him.

"Yeah Daddy everything's great," Miley told him, "More than great! Lilly knows about Hannah!" she told him happily. The look of shock that momentarily flashed on his face quickly changed to happiness.

"That's great Darlin'," he smiled, "And about time, how d'ya feel about it Lilly?" he asked.

"I shouldn't be surprised Mr S, she's the best singer ever and the best friend." Lilly smiled at Miley who smiled back.

"Right well we're just about ready downstairs so you girls need to come down in about ten minutes, will ya be set for then?" Robbie Ray asked.

"Yes Daddy." Miley nodded and closed the door as Robbie Ray started to head back downstairs.

"Miley ..." Lilly started.

"Yeah, I know," Miley interrupted gently, "We need to talk, and we will tonight I promise," Lilly just smiled. They spent the evening playing games with Jackson and Robbie Ray and when Lilly and Jackson got that competitive over a game of Risk, Robbie Ray abruptly ended. He made them all a Loco Hot Cocoa and then they all climbed the stairs for bed. When Lilly and Miley were finally alone they stood and stared at each other for a few moments until Lilly finally spoke.

"So that was a ... informative Christmas Eve," she smiled as she put her cocoa down on the bedside table on the side she normally slept on as Miley mirrored her actions on the other side of the bed. Miley grabbed a pair of pyjamas before smiling shyly.

"I'm just gonna get changed in the bathroom, I'll give you a yell when you're decent," Miley told her and she disappeared into the bathroom. Lilly stood looking at the door with a silly smile on her face before she realised that she needed to get changed before Miley was ready. She bounded over to her bag and pulled out her pyjamas before quickly changing and jumping on the bed and reaching for her cocoa just as Miley's voice drifted from the bathroom. "You done Lils?" she asked.

"Yeah Miles," she called back and Miley came back into the bedroom, turning off the bathroom light as she did. Lilly tracked her progress as she walked to her side of the bed and climbed in too. She however, left her cocoa where it was and instead turned to face Lilly who put her cocoa back on the bedside table and turned towards Miley as well.

"Hi." Miley smiled at Lilly.

"Hi back." Lilly grinned before she leaned forward and did what she had been dying to do for the last few hours and placed a soft kiss on her lips. When she parted from Miley and opened her own eyes, she saw a look of pure contentment on Miley's face. "I love you Miley" Lilly whispered.

"I love you," Miley whispered back before she opened her eyes, "So ... we need to talk," Miley smiled.

"Yeah," Lilly agreed, "First I want to talk about us, I want you to be my girlfriend Miles."

Miley's face split into a wide smile before she reached forward and pushed a few pieces of loose hair behind her ear and placed her hand on her cheek. "Forever if you'll have me," Miley told her sincerely.

"That works out well for me," Lilly told her. They both laugh and Lilly reached up to take her hand which was still pressed against her cheek. "Are we gonna tell people?" Lilly asked.

"I don't care who knows," Miley told her, "I really don't but maybe we should keep it to ourselves just for now, this is new to us too and I don't want to have to deal with people like Amber and Ashley yet, I want to enjoy the fact that you love me too." Lilly wanted to just run and scream this to everyone, but she knew what Miley said was true, "We can tell our families and maybe Oliver too" Miley continued, "I can't wait to tell my dad about us"

"That's settled then." Lilly smiled, Miley didn't care who knew about them, she just wanted them to be together. "Right ... about Hannah ..." Miley's smile faded as this subject was broached.

"Yeah, ok anything you want to know and I'll tell you." Miley told her solemnly.

"I just have one question," Lilly started and paused, drawing out the torment for Miley, "Can I have a secret identity too," she grinned. Miley let out a sigh of relief at this.

"Do you want a secret identity?" Miley asked.

"Yeah, it'd be pretty weird for me to all of a sudden have a best friend who's a pop star when everyone knows that you're my best friend and people might start to put one and one together, yeah I definitely want my own secret identity, so I can help protect yours."

"We can work on that on the 26th and you can come with me to the concert on the 27th." Miley smiled, happy that Lilly wanted to do that to protect her.

About half an hour later, all Lilly's questions were answered and they had drunk all their cocoa so they decided it was time for bed. As they lay down, Miley reached for Lilly and pulled her to lie next to her with her head resting on her shoulder and Lilly wrapped her arms around Miley's waist to pull them still closer together.

"Night Lils." Miley whispered against Lilly's hair and then softly kissed her forehead.

"Night Miles," Lilly replied. They both lay there in comfortable silence, taking in how right it felt to cuddle like this now they were more than friends and not confused about how they were feeling. After a few minutes of this, Lilly spoke up softly so as not to make Miley jump. "Miley?"

"Yeah Lil."

"Can you do something for me and promise not to laugh?" she asked.

"'Course, what's up?" Miley asked, intrigued.

"Could you ... I mean would you mind if I asked ... Can you sing for me?" Lilly stumbled through her question. Miley grinned widely at this before she thought quickly about which song to sing. She smiled as she remembered one that she and Lilly loved by Taylor Swift and quickly altered some of the lyrics in her head before she started singing. She also sang the song softer and slower than Taylor did to give it a more intimate feel.

"Hey Lilly, I know looks can be deceiving  
But I know I saw a light in you  
And as we walked we were talking  
I didn't say half the things I wanted to

Of all the girls tossing rocks at your window  
I'll be the one waiting there even when it's cold  
Hey Lilly, girl, you might have me believing  
I don't always have to be alone

'Cause I can't help it if you look like an angel  
Can't help it if I wanna kiss you in the rain so  
Come feel this magic I've been feeling since I met you  
Can't help it if there's no one else  
Mmm, I can't help myself

Hey Lilly, I've been holding back this feeling  
So I got some things to say to you  
I've seen it all, so I thought  
But I never seen nobody shine the way you do

The way you walk, way you talk, way you say my name  
It's beautiful, wonderful, don't you ever change  
Hey Lilly, why are people always leaving?  
I think you and I should stay the same

'Cause I can't help it if you look like an angel  
Can't help it if I wanna kiss you in the rain so  
Come feel this magic I've been feeling since I met you  
Can't help it if there's no one else  
Mmm, I can't help myself

They're dimming the street lights, you're perfect for me  
I know you're here tonight  
I'm waiting with you now, so come on and come out  
And pull me near and shine, shine, shine

Hey Lilly, I could give you fifty reasons  
Why I should be the one you choose  
All those other girls, well, they're beautiful  
But would they write a song for you?

I can't help it if you look like an angel  
Can't help it if I wanna kiss you in the rain so  
Come feel this magic I've been feeling since I met you  
Can't help it if there's no one else  
Mmm, I can't help myself

If you look like an angel  
Can't help it if I wanna kiss you in the rain so  
Come feel this magic I've been feeling since I met you  
Can't help it if there's no one else  
Mmm, I can't help myself

Myself  
Can't help myself  
I can't help myself"

As Miley finished the song she noticed that Lilly had shifted position slightly so her hand rested on Miley's chest and her chin rested on her hand and was now looking up at her as she sang.

"That was beautiful Miles, thank you." Lilly whispered before leaning up and giving her girlfriend a soft kiss before they both settled back down to sleep.

-LILEY-

Christmas day dawned bright and early but neither Miley nor Lilly was awake to see the beautiful sunrise. As the sun rose and the rays of sunlight peaked through the floor length curtains covering the balcony doors in Miley's room, they moved slowly over the two figures asleep on the bed. During the night, the two young women had shifted, if possible, even closer together. Lilly was now practically lay on top of Miley and one of her legs was resting in between Miley's. Her head rested on Miley's chest and her left hand had made its way under Miley's tank top during the night so her hand now rested on bare skin just shy of Miley's breast. Miley was hardly innocent of nocturnal movements either. Her left hand was buried in Lilly's blonde hair and her right had just slipped into the waist band of Lilly's pyjama shorts.

As the alarm clock on the bedside table clicked over to show 09:12, Lilly's cell phone suddenly blared out music causing both girls to jump awake however they did not jump apart. It took them both a few seconds to realise why they were so close and to realise where their hands had travelled in the night and Lilly rubbed her thumb over the skin on her chest just barely grazing the underside of Miley's breast causing the other girl to shiver slightly, before she smirked at the response and leaned over Miley to grab her cell phone. She didn't look at the caller ID but quickly flipped open her phone.

"Hello?" she asked as she looked down at Miley from her new position and smiled as Miley licked her lips subconsciously at Lilly's position.

"_Good Morning honey,"_ came the cheerful voice of Heather Truscott, _"Happy Christmas!"_

"Mom!" Lilly exclaimed and Miley's gaze quickly moved from the slow sweep she was making of her girlfriend's body to her face. "Erm, I mean, Happy Christmas!" Lilly quickly tried to cover.

"_You ok honey? How's Christmas at the Stewarts?" _she asked in rapid succession.

"Well last night was awesome," Lilly said as she grinned down at Miley, "Miley really is such a 'True Friend'" she said, with a wide smile at Miley who rolled her eyes, "But as far as Christmas day goes, me and Miley haven't really got up yet, your call just woke us up."

"_Really? You're normally as hyper as a kid on Halloween candy at Christmas, up at the crack of dawn and everything." _Heather reminded her.

"Yeah I know ... guess I was just really comfy and didn't want to wake up." she said, winking at Miley who decided to start having her own back and her hands slowly crept back down a little way of the waist band of her shorts. Lilly's smile faded as a look of warning flashed over her face instead. This was her Mom on the phone after all but Miley just smiled back and leaned up to place a gentle kiss on the exposed section of collar bone. Lilly closed her eyes against the sensation as her Mom responded.

"_Well, I'll call you again later sweetie; I gave Mr Stewart your present because I really wanted you to open it on Christmas day. There are some more when I get back but I wanted you to have this one today." _Heather told her.

"Thanks Mom." Lilly said, a little quickly, "I think I hear Mr Stewart calling us for breakfast actually Mom so I'll call you when I open the present. Thanks and I love you." Lilly rushed out.

"_You too honey," _was just about heard as Lilly snapped the phone shut and casually tossed it on the bedside table before grabbing Miley's hands from where they had wandered and pinned them above her head.

"That wasn't nice Stewart." Lilly grinned, leaning down and kissing the tip of her nose.

"I couldn't help myself." Miley gazed up at Lilly.

"Ok, I'll let you off this once Miles ... only because it's Christmas." Lilly then released Miley's hands as her lips found Miley's again. They kissed until oxygen became an issue and they reluctantly parted. "Happy Christmas Miley."

"Happy Christmas Lilly," Miley said softly, before she continued, "So are gonna tell Daddy and Jackson today?" Miley asked.

"That's up to you Miles." Lilly said carefully. She wanted to run downstairs and tell them now but she didn't want to pressure Miley.

"Yup today it is," Miley said as her face split into a wide smile, "Now move your cute butt before we don't get downstairs in time for Daddy's chocolate chip pancakes and Jackson eats them all." Lilly jumped up quickly at this but turned to hep Miley up too. They ran down the stairs just in time for Robbie Ray to serve the pancakes so they wished him and Jackson and happy Christmas before they sat down at the table side by side and without conscious thought Lilly's left hand rested on Miley's thigh whilst they ate. Robbie Ray looked over and saw this and grinned as he nudged Jackson and pointed. Jackson looked over at them and at first didn't understand but then it dawned on him and he grinned back at his Dad before he ran over to Miley and Lilly.

"Sooo," he began, "You girls got something you'd like to share with the rest of the family?" he asked, smirking. Lilly swallowed her mouthful of pancake and looked at Miley who smiled back at her, and putting her left hand on top of Lilly's which was still on her thigh.

"Daddy, Jackson, Lilly and I have something we want to tell you but we'd really appreciate it if you'd keep it to yourselves for a while, I mean, Mrs Truscott and probably Oliver will know but ..." Miley started to ramble, she was after all a little nervous as to how her Dad would react. She didn't think he'd be upset but sometimes people can surprise you.

"Miley, honey." Lilly interrupted, breaking off her rant.

"Thanks Lil," Miley smiled appreciatively at her, "We're in love and we want to be together from now on." Miley quickly looked to her Dad before she continued. "Please don't be upset Daddy."

"Upset?" Robbie Ray answered in a flat tone, "Why would I be upset when my only daughter comes to me and tells me that she's in love with her female best friend ..." he paused, "It's about dang time!" he finished grinning widely and walking to the girls to pull them into a group hug. "I love you two, and I'm so proud of you both."

"Thanks Daddy." Miley whispered and Lilly nodded her head against his shoulder.

The rest of Christmas day ran smoothly, Lilly's Mom rang back and spoke to Lilly, Miley and Robbie Ray before she promised she would be home as soon as she could. Lilly decided she wanted to tell her Mom in person about her and Miley so they didn't tell her. Later that day, just as they were about to go upstairs to bed, Robbie Ray called them over.

"Right girls, here it is," he started, "Do I have to have Lilly sleep in the guest room?" he asked, looking sternly at them. Lilly and Miley both instantly got what he was referring to and each turned a very bright shade of red.

"Daddy!" Miley exclaimed.

"Yeah Dad, give them a break, it's not like they can get pregnant." Jackson said from the kitchen where he was making a sandwich from the leftover Turkey that was probably as big as his head and there was no way he was going to be able to eat it anyways. If possible they both blushed an even deeper shade of red at his words but before they could say another word, Robbie Ray burst out laughing.

"I'm sorry baby girl, I'm just yanking your chain," he laughed, "I trust you girls," he said a little more seriously, "Now get on to bed you two, Merry Christmas." he smiled.

"Happy Christmas Daddy." Miley muttered, still embarrassed at her father's words.

"Happy Christmas Mr Stewart." Lilly grinned happy that he wasn't really upset at them. When they arrived upstairs Miley grabbed Lilly by the waist and pulled her into a deep kiss.

"I've been waiting to do that all day." Miley whispered against Lilly's lips. Lilly smiled and returned the kiss.

"Me too."

-LILEY-

The next morning found the two girls waking up in a very similar position to the day before only this time Miley's hand had made its way a little further down past the waist band so that all her fingers and part of her hand was now hidden by the fabric. No cell phones woke them this morning, instead Lilly woke first as the gap in the curtains was slightly bigger this morning and there was a ray of light that hit her eyes first. She blinked and then looked up into the sleeping face of Miley but before she could do anything other than smile, Miley started to wake up too. She stretched slightly and then blinked awake and noticed Lilly awake.

"Mornin' Lils," she said, her accent thicker than normal due to her sleepiness and Lilly loved it. They lay talking her the next few minutes about how great Christmas had been before Lilly made Miley jump.

"OOOH! Miles! We have to decide a secret identity for me today," she grinned happily. Her enthusiasm was contagious and Miley grinned back.

"We sure do!" Miley agreed, "If you're gonna be part of the Hannah world, which I insist on by the way then you need a secret identity."

"Ooh can I be called Lola?" she asked excitedly. Miley laughed slightly at the enthusiasm on her face before she spoke.

"Why Lola?" she asked.

"Dunno I just think it would be cool," she paused for a moment, "How about Lola Lufonda ... no wait! Lola Luftnagle!" she giggled, which was contagious as it set Miley off too.

"Luftnagle? Where did you get that name from?" Miley asked through the giggles.

"Heard someone yelling it the other day, thought it sounded cool ... never thought I'd actually use it as a secret identity name though," she grinned and squeezed Miley gently.

"We're gonna have to come up with quite an outfit to match that name hon." Miley told her, squeezing back. "What colour wig do you want?" Miley asked.

"Do I have to have just one?" Lilly asked, "Wouldn't it be cool to have a different colour every time?" she grinned, "Keep people guessing."

"Whatever Lilly wants, Lilly gets." Miley told her firmly. Lilly looked back up at Miley at this and smirked.

"Really?" she drawled, her gaze lingering on Miley's lips.

"Uhh ..." Miley stuttered but happily no further comment was needed as Lilly captured Miley's lips in a searing kiss which she happily returned.

-LILEY-

The next day saw Miley ad Lilly standing in the Hannah closet haphazardly throwing clothes this way and that, trying to find the perfect combination of clothes for Lilly to wear for Lola.

"Ok." Lilly said as she stood up from where she had been kneeling back Hannah's shoes trying to pick the perfect pair, "I'm gonna go with the cropped bright blue wig, the sparkly white t-shirt of Hannah's, your navy blue waist coat and the black crop pants with the shiny patches. Now for the shoes ... should I go with the black heel or the white?" she asked, holding both forward for Miley to choose from. Miley gave both pairs of shoes a surprised glance. Lilly always wore Converse or Vans; she wasn't expecting her to pick out such a ... hot outfit. Not that Lilly didn't always look gorgeous but this was a whole new level.

"Dang honey, are you trying to give me a heart attack tonight?" she asked. Lilly smirked as she answered.

"Miley likey?" she asked.

"Miley definitely likey," she responded, nodding her head rigorously, "But Lils you know you don't have to wear stuff like this right, you can just wear stuff your comfortable in."

"I know," Lilly said, "But I figure I'm Lola Luftnagle when I'm around and about with Hannah Montana and the more I act like Lilly, the more danger you'll be in of your secret being exposed and I'm not gonna be the cause of that happening." Lilly told her resolutely.

"Thanks Lil," Miley whispered, pulling her into a tight hug which Lilly returned as best as she could with a shoe in each hand. "And go with the white ones," she winked at Lilly as they parted.

"Awesome!" Lilly replied as she put the black heels back and looked at her watch, "Whoa Miles we should be getting ready now, we have to leave in an hour and a half!"

"Shoot!" Miley exclaimed and then quickly ran to the closet door, "I'm goin' in the shower first, be ready to jump in after me," she told her.

"Can I not just jump in with you and conserve the water?" she asked with a pout. Miley stopped dead and turned to look at Lilly before walking quickly back over to Lilly and placing a soft kiss on her lips before leaning back so her lips were hovering over Lilly's.

"Soon Lil," she whispered, her breath tickling Lilly's lips, "Soon," she gave Lilly one last peck and walked quickly into the bathroom, leaving a breathless Lilly behind.

"Wow," she whispered to the empty closet.

That evening saw Lilly's first ever Hannah Montana concert with the best seat in the house ... backstage. She grinned happily as the limo pulled up at the arena and security staff quickly opened the door and ushered Miley and herself into the star's entrance.

"Wow Hannah that was intense." Lilly smiled at Miley.

"That was actually quite mild, most of the fans must inside already." Miley told her and took Lilly's hand in hers as she led her towards her dressing room. She and Lilly had discussed the Hannah situation the day before that they had decided to keep their relationship a secret in the Hannah world as well. Miley had said that when they were ready for everyone to deal with their relationship they would tell everyone, including everyone in the Hannah world, so everyone would know that Miley and Lilly were together and that Hannah and Lola were together but Lilly had told her that they would wait for a while for things to settle down in their regular lives before they upset the celebrity life too. They had just turned around a corner of a long corridor when Lilly heard the most grating voice she had ever heard in her life.

"Hannah darling! Mwa Mwa!" said a young women as she air kissed Miley.

"Hey Traci," Miley smiled, "How's it going?" she asked.

"Oh you know how it is Hannah, I've had nine parties to go to in the last week, I had to pull triple duty on Christmas Eve to go to Beyonce's, Kelly's and Orlando's party's" she smirked, clearly trying to drop as many celebrity names as possible. I didn't see you there Hannah," she said.

"No we had a family Christmas and Lola stayed with us." Miley smiled, as she gently tugged Lilly to stand a little closer to her and for the first time Traci turned her gaze to Lilly.

"Who's this?" she drawled out with a slight sneer on her face as she took in the bright blue of Lola's hair and the sparkly clothes.

"This is Lola Luftnagle, she's my best friend." Miley told Traci and then turned to Lilly; "Lola, this is Traci Van Horn," she smiled softly at Lilly who quickly extended her hand to Traci.

"Hi," she grinned, "It's nice to meet you," Lilly said. Traci glanced down at Lilly's hand before turning back to Miley, effectively ignoring Lilly. Lilly shrugged internally before shifting her gaze back to Miley who frowned slightly at this but didn't say anything as Lilly squeezed her hand slightly to tell her it was ok.

"So you _must _come to my New Year's Eve bash," she continued as if there hadn't been the slightest change to their conversation.

"I can't Traci," Miley said a little coldly, "My family and Lola's are getting together for a party at our homes, nothing exciting or huge, just fun," she smiled, just at the mere thought of being able to spend the whole evening with Lilly in her arms and not being worried about who might see them and catch them out.

"But Hannah ..." Traci started to protest.

"I'm sorry Traci, but I have to go and get ready now, I'll catch you after the show!" she told her as she started back down the corridor not waiting for her response. When they got to the dressing room, Miley shut the door after them and started to fume straight away. "I can't believe her! I mean she's always been self obsessed but that was just plain cruel the way that she ignored you like that! I wanted to knock her into the middle of next week!"

"Miles calm down, I'm ok, you're ok, we're both ok. One annoying person isn't going to ruin this for us," she calmed as she placed a soft kiss on Miley's lips. "Now relax and let's get you ready."

Miley smiled at Lilly, "You're right as always," she said, "I have a show to do!"

Miley had been on stage for about forty five minutes when Lilly's attention was drawn from her best friend dancing across the stage to someone standing next to her.

"She doesn't really think you're her best friend you know," Traci sneered, "She knows you're just hanging around her for her money and for the fame."

Lilly's jaw dropped at this insinuation but she tried to react calmly, after all maybe Traci was only trying to protect her friend against someone she thought was a threat to Hannah. "I don't need to hang around Hannah for money," Lilly told Traci, "My parents are very wealthy, probably more so than Hannah," she invented, "And as for the fame, I don't want any fame, I just want to hang out with my best friend," she told her.

"You'll see Lulu, she'll drop you before long, _I'm_ her best friend and she takes me to all her celebrity parties." Traci shot back and then it became clear to Lilly, Traci wasn't protecting Hannah, she wanted to use the Hannah world herself to be invited to cool parties and meet famous people. Well that wasn't going to happen whilst she was around.

"I suggest you leave right now Traci, before I tell Hannah that the only reason you hang around her is because you want to use her." Lilly ground out from between her teeth, "I will not see you hurt my best friend."

"Oh yeah? And just what are you going to do to stop me?" Traci asked.

"She'll tell me." Miley's voice drifted from the stage entrance. Both Lilly and Traci were so wrapped up in their conversation that they had failed to notice that Hannah was taking a quick break and she had heard the majority of the last bit of the conversation. Enough to know that Traci wasn't a true friend like Lilly. "Leave Lola alone Traci, or I won't invite you to anymore parties again, ya get me?" she asked. Traci stared at Miley for a few moments before glancing at Lilly, huffing and walking away as quickly as her heels would carry her.

"I'm sorry Hannah." Lilly whispered.

"What on Earth for?" Miley asked, confused.

"Well Traci's gone because of me, maybe I shouldn't have come." Lilly started to say but Miley quickly interrupted her.

"That has got to be one of the silliest things I've ever heard you say Lola," she said, with a gentle smile to take the sting out of what she was saying. "I want you here and that's that," she finished firmly.

"Ok," Lilly smiled, "You're doing great out there, they really love you."

"Yeah," Miley smiled, "I have some really great fans," she took another swig of water from the bottle she was carrying before she quickly handed it to Lilly as the guitarist started his solo, "That's my cue! See you in a bit Lola," she waved as she ran back on stage to massive cheers just as the solo finished.

A.N. So I don't think I'm that great at writing arguments, mainly because I try to avoid them in any way I can lol but I hope this was ok, please leave your thoughts, thanks Nicki xoxo


	3. Chapter 3

A.N. Here's the final part!

The Valentine Void

Chapter Three – Of Christmas, New Year and Confrontations. 

The next few days were interesting for Miley and Lilly. They were free to be themselves around Robbie Ray and Jackson, a lingered kiss on the cheek, holding hands as they walked around the house and then snuggling together on the sofa as they all watched television. When the 31st rolled around they both were incredibly nervous again. Today Lilly's Mom and Oliver were both going to find out about their relationship. Lilly's Mom would be arriving at about three in the afternoon and Oliver, who had got back from his Grandparents last night would be over about twelve, so Oliver was being told first.

As twelve o'clock struck, Oliver knocked on the door right on time as usual before he let himself in.

"Hello Stewarts!" he greeted cheerfully as he closed the door behind him and saw Miley, Lilly and Robbie Ray in the kitchen, preparing food for that evening. "Hey to you too Lilly," he grinned.

"Hi Oliver," they all chorused.

"You have a good Christmas?" Lilly asked him.

"Yup it was good, got a bit boring there after a few days but family's family," he said as he rolled his eyes slightly at the phrase they all knew his Mom used all the times. "How about you guys?" he asked.

"We had a great time." Miley answered and looked at Lilly as she continued, "It was great having Lils stay with," she smiled softly.

"I can echo that," Robbie Ray grinned. There was a pause as Miley and Lilly were still looking at each other causing Robbie Ray to clear his throat. They quickly looked away and blushed; they had been so used to being able to be themselves around each other in Miley's home that they had forgotten that Oliver did not yet know. Oliver looked from Miley to Lilly, his confusion showing in his face.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"I ... We have something to tell you," Lilly started but words failed her and Miley strode to her side and took her hand as she too turned to face Oliver who took one look at their joined hands before his face broke into a wide grin and he quickly halted the words that Miley was about to say with words of his own.

"Are you guys serious?" he asked, "Please tell me you've finally admitted the truth to each other," he continued excitedly. Miley and Lilly looked at each other, relief flooding their features at Oliver's comments.

"Yeah" Miley smiled, "We're together now". Miley pulled Lilly into her arms and Lilly smiled as she wrapped her own arms around Miley.

"Please don't tell anyone yet though Oliver, we want to keep it just between or family at the moment ... are you ok with that?" Lilly asked from her very comfy spot in Miley's arms. Oliver couldn't help feeling a little choked up that Miley and Lilly considered him family and important enough to tell this to so he smiled warmly at them and pulled them both into a hug.

"Whatever you need guys," he said softly, "I mean it; I'll keep it on the DL for you."

"Thanks Ollie," Lilly said, happily.

For the next few hours Miley, Lilly and Oliver sat in the living room watching the random movies that always seemed to be on during this time of year when the doorbell rang. Lilly was out of her seat and running for the door before anyone else could blink leaving an amused Miley sat on the sofa they had been snuggled on.

"I'll get it," she yelled as she pulled the door open to reveal her Mom. "Mom!" she exclaimed happily and threw her arms around her in a tight hug, "How was Grandma?" she asked as she pulled her Mom over the threshold and shut the door as Miley stepped up behind her.

"Grandma's great, she sends her love," Heather smiled at her daughter and then turned to Miley, "Hi Miley, did you guys both have a good Christmas?" she asked as she gave Miley a hug too.

"We sure did," Miley smiled, "Having Lilly here made it so much better," she told her, "Next year you'll have to stay with us too" Miley said happily.

Heather laughed at the enthusiasm that Miley was showing, "Miley honey we live down the road, next year I'm sure we'll all be here." Heather noticed Robbie Ray walking over from the kitchen and smiled at him, "Hi Robbie, I hope she wasn't too much trouble?" she said winking at her daughter as she also hugged Robbie Ray.

"'Course not Heather, Lilly's always welcome here and she cleans up after herself which is more than I can say for Jackson upstairs," he grinned. As Heather and Robbie Ray were having this discussion Miley squeezed Lilly's hand in support, letting Lilly know she was there. Lilly gave Miley a grateful look and as she turned to look at her Mom who was now looking at her daughter.

"So Lilly, do you want to come home and open the rest of your presents now or do you want to do that tomorrow and stay here for the rest of the evening? I don't mind which," Heather asked.

"Actually Mom I have something I need to tell you and I need to ask you not to freak out." Lilly said nervously. The smile vanished from Heather's face and she looked worriedly at her daughter.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing's wrong, I just ... well Miley and I ... what I mean to say is that we were talking and I ... aww heck," Lilly mumbled, she took a deep breath and said, "I'm in love with Miley Mom, we're together like romantically" she finished and anxiously awaited her Mother's response. At first there was merely silence as she gazed at the pair of them side by side. They looked at each other waiting for the response and Robbie Ray and Oliver were also nervously awaiting her response.

"You ... you ... you..." Heather stuttered, "You're gay you mean?" she finally asked. Lilly hadn't really considered the label that she knew would come along with her relationship at first but now she considered it she knew that she was actually bi, after all she had had some pretty intense feelings for guys in the past but all other feelings paled in comparison to her feelings for Miley.

"I'm bi I guess," Lilly said, "But I love Miley so I don't think it really matters who else I might have been attracted to."

"Please Mrs Truscott, I love Lilly so much, I'd never hurt her, I promise," Miley told her as her face was still blank. Finally Heather seemed to realise she hadn't yet actually made any sort of reaction to what they were saying and shook herself out of her daze and smiled, instantly quelling the fears that Miley and Lilly had.

"I'm sorry girls, that just shocked me for a moment but I guess I shouldn't be surprised, you girls really are made for each other now I think about it, come here," she said and pulled them both into a hug.

After Lilly's Mom had been told about the relationship the rest of the evening passed pleasantly with Miley and Lilly falling back into the habit of holding hands everywhere they went causing Lilly's Mom to smile at the look of happiness on both girls faces. It was now a minute to midnight and Miley and Lilly were sat on the deck, looking at the stars above them.

"Tonight has been perfect," Miley whispered as she placed a gentle kiss on Lilly's cheek.

"Yeah," Lilly sighed happily; "I'm so glad our parents and Oliver are ok with us," she smiled softly.

"They've been the greatest, I mean you hear so many horror stories about people coming out to their parents and being kicked out, I would've hated for Daddy to hate us like that."

"Me too."

They say in comfortable silence and then they heard the presenter say _"Ok everyone we've got less than 30 seconds until the New Year, everyone grab your partners and start counting down!"_

"You wanna be my New Years Eve kiss," Lilly asked Miley sweetly as the countdown began.

"Every year," Miley responded softly.

"_3! ... 2! ... 1! ... HAPPY NEW YEAR!"_

"Happy New Year Miley," Lilly said, placing her hand on Miley's cheek.

"Happy New Year Lilly," Miley smiled and she leaned forward to place a soft kiss on Lilly's lips who instantly deepened the kiss, running her tongue over Miley's lower lip and moaning slightly as she allowed her entrance. After a few minutes of intense kissing they finally broke apart. "So any New Year's resolutions?" Miley asked and a breathless voice.

"Just to keep you happy," Lilly smiled and she leant forward to place a short kiss on Miley's lips.

-LILEY-

As Lilly woke up she became aware of two things. The first was that she could feel Miley holding her securing from behind with her face nestled into her neck and the second thing that she became aware of was that today was her seventeenth birthday. Normally she and Miley only had their sleepovers on weekends but they had both begged their parents to let Miley sleep over at Lilly's so she could be with her on her birthday morning. They had agreed so this Friday Lilly was happy to wake up in Miley's arms. Lilly's Mom had spoken to Miley's Dad about the safe sex talk and they had decided that Heather would talk to them about it as Robbie Ray had tried to talk about the birds and the bees with his daughter three year before and it had been a complete disaster so she had sat them down shortly after they had got together. Both girls were blushing like crazy as Heather had talked to them and despite their assurances that as much as they loved each other they weren't ready yet, Heather still thought they were at that stage. Lilly didn't really care what her Mom thought either way, she and Miley were more than happy with how their relationship was progressing but she knew she was ready now ... she just didn't know how to broach the subject with Miley. She figured that Miley being Miley would let her know when she was ready. As she was lying there, lost in thoughts, Miley awoke and smiled as she let her lips touch Lilly's neck.

"Good mornin' Birthday Girl," she said softly, letting her lips brush against her neck as she did so. "You ready for a good day?"

Lilly turned in Miley's arms to give her a proper good morning kiss and then answered "I hate this day Miles, it always ends up being the worst day of the year for me," she groaned.

"That won't happen this year." Miley told her.

"How do you know?" Lilly whined.

"Because I'm an undercover popstar and I know all." Miley smirked as she leant forward to claim Lilly's lips in another kiss.

A few hours later they were walking down the corridor towards their third class of the day, happily discussing the coming evening. Lilly was trying to get details of what Miley had planned, but Miley was steadfastly ignoring her questions and simply telling Lilly not to pry, that she'd find out that evening. The last few months had been perfect for Miley. Lilly made her so happy and the time they spent together left Miley happy for days. It was like she had an internal gage that refilled in every moment she spent with Lilly and if she was away from her for too long the gage ran low and she became a pest to all who knew her. She was happily reviewing the arrangements she had made for that evening when they arrived at their classroom and took their seats at the back of the class. They had only been there for a few seconds when Amber and Ashley walked into the room. They had put flowers behind their ears and had a huge box of chocolates that they were happily sharing.

"... and he told me that he couldn't _wait _to take me to the next Hannah concert and that he would get a contact his Dad knows to get the tickets as soon as," Amber was gloating, "He said they'd be _front row_," she emphasised and turned to smirk at Lilly and Miley. Miley turned to face Lilly, away from Amber and rolled her eyes at what the older girl had said.

At lunch they had just got their lunch trays and were walking towards their table when Amber and Ashley appeared for the second time that day.

"What no date today Miley?" Amber asked, "Looks like Loveless Lilly sucked another into her ..." Amber said and then she and Ashley both said "Valentine Void" together before touching their fingers together and saying "Ooh tsss!" Miley did not have the patience for this. These two girls were the reason that her Lilly dreaded this day and she was through with listening to this garbage. She slammed her lunch down on the table that she and Lilly always sat at and turned on her heel to face Amber and Ashley. She could feel Lilly stand next to her and she felt emboldened by this.

"You two poisonous bitches can say what you want about me, I don't care, but leave Lilly alone!" Miley yelled, causing the attention of the nearby students to swing around to the growing confrontation. "This is her birthday! It should be a happy day for her but you two aren't happy with your own lives until you ruin someone else's, are you?"

"At least we can get dates," Ashley sneered.

"Yeah well," Miley laughed, "That's all you two get isn't it, I don't see you in a relationship with anyone now do I?" she sneered.

"I'd take dates over being a Valentine Void," Amber laughed.

"Yeah," Ashley butted in, "Who on Earth would want Lilly for a girlfriend?" Miley didn't hesitate before she responded. She was so angry at Amber and Ashley right now that she didn't care.

"ME!" she yelled, her voice echoing around the canteen. Everyone who was in the vicinity suddenly felt their eyes widen as Miley's confession registered in their minds. Miley's jaw dropped as she realised what she said and she quickly turned to face her girlfriend. Lilly, however, was the only person in the room who wasn't shocked, in fact she looked downright happy. "Lils? ..." Miley questioned gently but Lilly just smiled happily up at her and it was then she realised something. She didn't care if the whole world knew she was dating Lilly. Lilly was by far the best thing that had ever happened to her, even better than Hannah, and if she had to put up with some narrow minded people throwing insults at her for loving someone who was as great as Lilly just because they were both girls then she did not care. She smiled back at Lilly and with the smile still firmly on her lips she turned back to the still shocked faced of Amber and Ashley. She also saw, from the corner of her eyes, the rest of the students. Some were smiling, some were frowning, but most were whispering furiously with their neighbours.

"You and her ... are a couple?" Amber finally spat out. Miley merely smiled and felt Lilly take her hand. She squeezed it gently, without turning to face her.

"That's just ... just ... gross!" Ashley said. Miley and Lilly both rolled their eyes.

"If that's the worse you can say I've vastly overestimated your verbal skills," Miley told them, they both swore at Miley and Lilly and walked off disgusted. Lilly pulled Miley closer by the hand she held and gently kissed her.

"Thanks Miles," she whispered.

"You're welcome sweetheart," Miley smiled and she wrapped her arms around her girlfriend, taking in the feeling of Lilly in her arms, happy she could now do this in front of the whole school and not be worried about the impression she was given other people. She looked around and noticed that most people had gone back to their lunches, not really bothered about the new relationship that had been revealed to them. There were a few people glaring at them, mainly from Amber and Ashley's usual table but Miley didn't care about those people. As they broke their hug and turned to sit with their friends, still holding hands tightly, Miley was happily smiling with their friends who were congratulating them. No matter what prejudices were going to be thrown at them, she could handle it as long as she had Lilly.

Lilly looked over at Miley, a soft smile gracing her face as she studied her girlfriend. Miley finally telling everyone about their relationship had been the only barrier (for want of a better word) to moving forward and now that everyone knew they could just be like a normal couple, no more sneaking around and hiding how they felt. She leant forward and placed another soft kiss on her lips and grinned at the surprised but happy smile she sent Lilly's way.

She knew as she saw that smile that Loveless Lilly, the Valentine Void, was history. She was looking forward to having more Valentine days like this.

Maybe Valentine's Day didn't suck quite so much after all.

A.N. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I hope you guys liked this :) Please review, thanks Nicki.


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